1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to heat dissipation devices for removing heat from electronic devices, and more particularly to a heat dissipation device including a plurality of individual fin plates that are interlocked together.
2. Description of Prior Art
Conventional heat dissipation devices used for removing heat from electronic devices are mostly formed by extrusion of metallic material. FIG. 6 shows an example of this kind of heat dissipation device. The heat dissipation device 10 comprises abase, and a plurality of pins integrally extending from the base. The pins are relatively thick in comparison with distances defined between each two adjacent pins, due to inherent limitations in extrusion technology. This restricts the number of the pins that can be formed, and a total heat dissipation area that can be provided by the pins. Furthermore, a height “h” of the pins is limited to about 13 times a distance “d” between each two adjacent pins, also due to inherent limitations in extrusion technology.
With the continuing boom in electronics technology, numerous modern electronic devices such as central processing units (CPUs) of computers can operate at very high speeds and thus generate large amounts of heat. The heat must be efficiently removed from the CPU; otherwise, abnormal operation or damage may result. Conventional extruded heat dissipation devices are increasingly no longer able to adequately remove heat from these contemporary electronic devices.
In order to keep pace with these developments in electronics technology, assembled heat dissipation devices have been gaining in popularity. FIG. 7 shows an assembled heat dissipation device 30 having a plurality of uniformly dimensioned individual plate fins 32 evenly stacked together. Each fin 32 forms top and bottom flanges 34. Each flange 34 defines a pair of slots 36 at a junction with a main body of the fin 32. Each flange 34 forms a pair of tabs 38 extending from an outer edge thereof at the slots 36 respectively. The tabs 38 of each fin 32 engage in the slots 36 of an adjacent fin 32. Protrusions 39 formed on the tabs 38 of each fin 32 are blocked by the main body of the adjacent fin 32 such that said tabs 38 are retained in the slots 36 of the adjacent fin 32. Thus, all the fins 32 are connected together to form the heat dissipation device 30. However, the fins 32 are held together only by reason of the blocking of the protrusions 39 by the main bodies of the fins 32. The protrusions 39 are prone to be disengaged from the corresponding adjacent fins 32 when the heat dissipation device 30 is subjected to shock or vibration during transportation or in operation. Part of or even the entire stack of fins 32 may collapse.